Pilipinas Shell plans to expand its network of import terminals

Listed Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. aims to expand its network of import terminals in the country by building a fifth in the Visayas area.

At a virtual briefing, Pilipinas Shell president and CEO Lorelei Quiambao-Osial said the company is planning to have five import terminals by 2025.

The oil company currently has three import facilities located in Luzon and Mindanao.

Pilipinas Shell’s network of import terminals include Shell Import Facility Tabangao (SHIFT) in Batangas with a 263-million-liter capacity; the North Mindanao Import Facility (NMIF) in Cagayan de Oro City with a 90-million-liter capacity; and the Subic Import Terminal, northwest of the National Capital Region, with a 54-million-liter capacity.

Last month, the company broke ground for a new import facility in Southern Mindanao. 

“To be more competitive, we need to be in one major island outside of Luzon and Mindanao,” Pilipinas Shell vice president for supply and distribution Kit Bermudez said.

“We are building [more] import terminals for us to be more competitive in the market that we are playing in. In the fuels [business], the bigger the vessel that you can import, the more competitive the prices will be."

In 2021, Pilipinas Shell booked a net income of P3.9 billion, reversing a net loss of P16.18 billion in 2020—the year of strict COVID-19 lockdowns which halted the majority of economic activities.

“In 2021, which was a very remarkable year, we took concrete steps towards recovery and growth in line with our reset and refocused strategy,” Quiambao-Osial said.

Bermudez, meanwhile, assured that the company's supply is stable since "we are not getting supplies from Russia."

“In terms of supply, we still don’t have any issues. The challenge is on the price,” he said.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war sent jitters across the global oil market, causing pump prices to skyrocket for several weeks. —VBL, GMA News